Our first trip to Anguilla was last December. We loved it so much, we are going to return next January. We stayed at Ku and liked it very much, except for its distance to restaurants. The beach was fabulous, the suites were fine (for the price, we weren't expecting Ritz-like luxury, and weren't disappointed), it had a nice little fitness center, internet access in the rooms, and the kitchen was a huge plus. The bathrooms were a bit small and basic, and yes, sometimes the water pressure was spotty, but all in all, we thought it pretty much fit the bill.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay at Ku again, but we were thinking it would be nice to try something a bit closer to the restaurants so we don't have to drive on the dark winding one lane roads at night. In that Ku worked out so well for us, we don't want to spend so much more to stay at one of the more exclusive resorts. It appears that Turtles Nest is comparably priced to Ku, and has many of the same things we would look for.

For those of you familiar with Ku and Turtles Nest, can you compare the two? Is Meads Bay as nice as Shoal Bay East for swimming and overall ambience? Are the Turtles Nest apartments comparable to the Ku suites? The debate within our family is, should be go with a proven winner or try something new. I don't want to get there and think, oh, we should have just stayed at Ku.

I know this is a very personal assessment but would appreciate any comments anyway. Thanks!

I have stayed at Turtle's Nest and was very favorably impressed with the suites -- they are enormous and have a/c that will knock your socks off. The bathrooms are quite large with spacious dressing area and there are fully equipped kitchens and nice large balconies. 2 tvs if you care & I believe that there was Internet access but we didn't bring a laptop. The pictures on the web site do it justice.

Turtle's Nest is self-catering with no restaurant, bar, fitness center but it's very close to many of our favorites restaurants (and after a couple of tequila shooters at Picante, that is a blessing!). It has more of an "apartment feel" than "resort ambiance" but I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

The beach is wonderful although there is construction on Meads Bay -- it didn't bother us any because the beach is sooooo wide and the waves are sooooo loud! Meads can be a little rougher than Shoal Bay East as it doesn't have the off-shore reefs to act as barriers and it does get deeper faster but we love the beach and if the waves are too big, we go to Rendezvous or Shoal Bay East. Meads also doesn't have the beach bars that Shoal Bay East has -- in season, Frangi has a one but that's about it so grabbing a quick lunch at a place like Elodia's or Gwen's in your bathing suit is not an option.

We split our time on the east end and west end so we weren't there the whole time but I thought it was a great location. Have you looked at Sirena -- there are some recent post on Trip Advisor that say the place has new owners and is being completely re-done this off-season. It's not right on the beach but 1-2 minute walk and has a restaurant & bar.

Thank you for your comments. One of the things we really liked about Shoal Bay East was the calmness of the water, so that likely weighs in favor of Ku over Turtles Nest. While we were at Ku last December there was quite a lot of construction going on next door, but it didn't bother us at all. I'll also take a look at La Sirena

I hope someone who travels there in January/February will answer. I have heard that Meads is a whole lot calmer other times of the year than when we're there. It can really kick up in October/Nov. but that is mostly attributable to very large storms churning away in the Atlantic -- my spouse got knocked silly last year and a woman we ran into at Tasty's broke her arm in several places that same day. On that particular day, it was the undertow that was so very, very strong; the waves were not very large.

Hi Mary - We are also considering Turtles Nest for Jan/Feb. Do they have lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach for guests? Again, thanks

Yes, there were lounges -- I can't remember about unmbrellas. They were in the process of building a larger pool so my guess is that they will upgrade the furniture. If you're up to climbing stairs, the sunset views from the rooftop are AMAZING!

Seems to me the north coast beaches, such as Mead's Bay are calmer in the summer months when the winds come from the South. In the winter months, the opposite is true most of the time. There are no guarantees, of course. The wind can change direction anytime.

We are visiting Anguilla in November and have decided to split our stay...we are staying at The Turtle's Nest for the first part of the trip, and KU for the second part of the trip. We are very excited about our trip and look forward to visiting both sides of the island!
Kathleen

Having stayed at Frangipani over 20 times since 1992 on our last trip to Anguilla we stayed at Ku' courtesy of a Luxury Link auction. It was very nice and a change staying on the east end of Anguilla. However we have seen Turtles Nest and it wins hands down. They have completed the second phase of construction which includes new condos and a large pool. Have never had a problem with the waves at Meads. We always get a car to go to the different beaches anyway. The plus is you are closer to the better restaurants on the island. Bananas, Frangipani and Blanchards are within walking distance and others a 5-10 minute drive. Since this probably won't be your last visit to Anguilla I would recommend Turtles Nest this time to try something different. You won't be disappointed. A lot nicer than Ku'